How do I read and play these guitar tabs?

Skip the altogether. Tabs of this kind are garbage and tell you almost nothing about the music. If you can't read notes you are out of luck. Unless you have a good ear and can pick it up from the record. Work on that rather than this awful tablature - by awful, I mean that THIS type of tab is bad. There is a form of tablature that gives both notes AND rhythms but there are none in pop music. The blind lead the blind you see........